Wallabies coach Robbie Deans expects a composed Sonny Bill Williams to disappoint anyone expecting him to be out of his depth when he plays for the Barbarians against Australia in Sydney next week.

The former New Zealand and Bulldogs rugby league forward will play his first senior 15-a-side game in Australia after leaving last July to join French rugby club Toulon.

Williams and Wallabies Phil Waugh and Chris Whitaker are part of a star-studded Barbarians squad, most of whom will arrive in Australia on Monday following the invitational team's 33-26 win over England on Saturday.

Deans thought Williams was likely to line up at outside centre, which could put him into direct opposition against current Wallabies skipper Stirling Mortlock.

The Australian captain described the prospect of his potential match-up as "a really positive one" and rated Williams "an extremely gifted athlete".

Deans said Williams was an unknown quantity as an international rugby player, but said the powerful New Zealander now had "a pretty significant background in union".

"I think he will bring a fair amount of composure, a fair amount of clarity within his game and I think his decision-making in the game now should be pretty well established," Deans said.

"If you're going along there thinking you are going to see a bloke who is a fish out of water, that won't be the case.

"He's had a full season of division one rugby in France, he's got that under his belt and he's capable, so he will be pretty clear in his own mind and very keen to impose himself on the game."

Williams arrived a week earlier than most of his Barbarians team-mates as he made a successful professional boxing debut in Brisbane last Wednesday.

Deans doubted whether Williams would be affected by the inevitable media and public focus on his performance at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday.

"I don't think he will be feeling a lot of pressure having just won his first (boxing) knockout, not too much daunts him I don't think," Deans said.

"But obviously he will be conscious of the scrutiny and conscious there will be a lot of interest on how he performs in a rugby international as opposed to a league international.

"He's well-versed in the cauldron, but he will have a fair amount of excitement entering the game."

Deans reported no injury worries as his players assembled in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.

While the Barbarians are renowned for producing free-flowing high-scoring rugby, Deans anticipated another tight encounter like Australia's 18-11 victory over the Baa Baas at Wembley late last year.

"Probably now that a lot of these blokes are ex-internationals who left in their prime and haven't had the opportunity to play against an international team for a while, they will still be wanting to prove a point," Deans said.

Mortlock said the Wallabies were all "really refreshed" by a week's break following the Super 14 competition and felt the Barbarians fixture represented the ideal way to start their 15-match 2009 campaign.

"The amount of quality they've got in that team, I think it's certainly as good as a Test match if not even stronger," Mortlock said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP